Annie Parisse

Anne Marie Cancelmi (born July 31, 1975), known professionally as Annie Parisse, is an American actress. She portrayed Alexandra Borgia on the drama series Law & Order. Parisse has also starred as Julia Snyder on the soap opera As the World Turns, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, and as FBI specialist Debra Parker on the thriller series The Following. Personal life Parisse was born in Anchorage, Alaska, the daughter of Annette, a teacher, and Louis G. Cancelmi, a senior executive with Alaska Air. She grew up in Mercer Island, Washington, and attended Mercer Island High School. She has two brothers, Louis Cancelmi, also an actor, and Michael Cancelmi, an Italian teacher. Louis is married to Elisabeth Waterston, a daughter of Law & Order veteran Sam Waterston. Parisse's father is of Italian descent on one side, and Slovak and Polish descent on the other. Her mother is of half Italian and half Syrian descent. She attended Fordham University, where she appeared in numerous productions, including Medea and Antigone, both of which featured her as the lead. Parisse is married to actor Paul Sparks with whom she has one son, Emmett (born in October 2009), and one daughter. Career Parisse guest starred on shows such as Big Apple, Third Watch, and Friends. She made a 2002 appearance on Law & Order, playing an exotic dancer in the episode "Attorney Client", where she testified against another defendant (a defense attorney) who plotted the murder of his wife. Before joining Law & Order, Parisse joined the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns as Julia Snyder from 1998 to 2001 and returned for a few episodes in 2002. She was later nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series in 2001. In a 2002 supporting role, she portrayed Jeannie Ashcroft in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Parisse also had a minor role in the 2004 action movie National Treasure, playing the role of Agent Dawes, who was Agent Sadusky's assistant. For the 2005 film Monster-in-Law, she held a supporting role. Parisse quit her role on Law & Order, making her final appearance in the May 17, 2006, season finale, in which her character is killed. Starting on March 8, 2007, Parisse starred in a revival of Craig Lucas's Prelude to a Kiss, with Alan Tudyk and John Mahoney. Parisse reprised her work in an Off Broadway performance as the title role of Becky Shaw. In the 2010 war drama, The Pacific, Parisse took on the role of Marine Sergeant Lena Riggi Basilone, wife of John Basilone, the revered United States Marine Gunnery Sergeant. In the summer of 2011, Parisse appeared in the New York Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park productions of Measure for Measure and All's Well that Ends Well. She had a recurring role on CBS' Person of Interest as Kara Stanton, the former partner of Jim Caviezel's character John Reese. In August 2012 Parisse was cast in a regular role on the Fox series The Following, premiering on January 21, 2013, as an FBI specialist. In 2016 Parisse appeared in the HBO series Vinyl as Andrea Zito, and in 2017 starred in the Netflix series Friends From College as Samantha "Sam" Delmonico.